


Just One Wish

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Original Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-08-24
Updated: 2000-08-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 15:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14792750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Rade Bartlet runs away from home.





	1. Just One Wish

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own em. The West Wing and it's characters belong to Aaron  
Sorkin and the distributors. Rade Bartlet Knox would probably belong to me  
however.  
NOTES: This doesn't mean Rade's a series. I just got this idea for her and  
I'm writing it. :) I'm getting carried away with this character. After this,  
comes another KD story, but in the meantime, let's rock and roll.

Danny Concannon released a sigh of contentment as he leaned back in the  
booth and let the aroma of the after-dinner coffee fill his nose. It had been  
a long day and the nice smell of decaffinated mocha was relaxing to the  
reporter. He'd never been in this coffee shop before. It was nice. There was  
a wholesome feel to the room. It was definitely a family place. He saw that  
in the kids that were running around, happily screaming with their siblings.  
He shook his head and smirked as he watched parents try to calm their  
children down.  
Finally they did, but not in the way that was intended. Someone called  
out to the kids and gathered them on the other side of the partition. Danny  
couldn't see what was happening, even by leaning over as far as he could, but  
seeing the smiles on the parents' faces, he knew that something good was  
happening. He suddenly heard the kids laughing and the parents chuckling. He  
decided to casually get up and get some more napkins from the counter so that  
he could see. He moved out of his seat and walked to the counter before  
glancing towards the crowd of kids. In the center of them was a teenage girl  
with dark brown hair cut short raggedly. Some of the hair was strewn over the  
right side of her face, hiding that part of her identity. She wore dark blue  
jeans, a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Danny smiled as he  
realized she was telling a story to the little kids to calm them down. He sat  
at the counter and watched before realizing who it was that sitting before  
him and he frowned.  
"What do you think happened next?" Rade Bartlet Knox asked as she pointed  
to a young boy. He grinned and shook his head. "You don't know? Aww, you  
wanna guess?" She asked playfully. "Well, then the cocky prince stood up in  
front of all the scribes and started to do what he thought he was supposed  
to. But the cocky prince wasn't prepared for the experienced knights in the  
crowd. One raised his hand as far up as the eye could see so that the prince  
could see he had a question. The prince called on him and waited. The knight  
asked his question, but it was very long and the prince didn't fully  
understand it, so he said what he thought he should say. The knight said  
'That doesn't answer my question!'" Rade said in a mockingly teasing voice.  
Danny smirked a little as he recognized the story.  
"So what did the pwince do?" A young girl asked. Rade smiled and tapped  
the girl on the nose.  
"That is a very good question. The prince then tried to make up an  
answer, but the other knights and scribes were starting to get the idea that  
this was the weakness in the prince they were waiting for. Here was their  
chance to prove to him that they weren't so stupid after all. They started  
asking him many different questions, all of them about the one question that  
the first knight had asked. The prince was so confused, he started answering  
as he thought he should, but the scribes decided that they couldn't let him  
get away that easy and started mixing his words around just to show him who  
was boss." Rade exclaimed with a flourish. The kids giggled, the parents  
chuckled and Danny just shook his head while he listened. "So one scribe  
stood up and said 'Does the king have a secret plan to fight the thieves in  
our land?' The prince scoffed and said 'Yeah, he has a secret plan to fight  
robberies' in good kidding. But he had just opened himself up for more  
playful probing by the knights and scribes who were having the time of their  
life showing this prince that they were not little kids to be bossed around."  
"So what happened next?" The first little boy asked.  
"Well, what happened was that the prince decided he had to get out of  
there!" Rade exclaimed with a grin. The kids laughed again. "So he told the  
knights and scribes that he had to go tend to the Royal horses. He got out of  
there so fast that the scribes were laughing themselves out of their chairs.  
Then he went back to the throne room of the castle and there he found the  
king waiting for him with all of the kings servants standing by. The king  
said 'a secret plan to fight robberies'? What were you thinking? The prince  
replied 'they tricked me, sir! I was kidding! Of there isn't a stupid secret  
plan to fight the thieves.' The king stared at him and said 'not only did you  
create this plan to fight the thieves, but now you don't support it?'" The  
kids laughed and giggled.  
"What happened to the knight?" Danny called out. All eyes in the room  
redirected to him as Rade looked at him. The look that crossed her face told  
him what he suspected. She wasn't supposed to be here."The first knight? That  
asked the question?"  
"Well, he went on to pursue the damsel that the prince was replacing. She  
always said no to him, but this knight didn't know the meaning of the word."  
Rade said with a weak smile.  
"I wanna know your sources." Danny teased.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you that very knight." Rade exclaimed  
as she pointed to Danny. "Do you still carry all that candy around with you,  
Danny?" She asked loudly. The kids all looked at him expectantly with big  
grins on their faces. Danny grimaced a little.  
"No, I'm afraid I don't. Sorry, kids." He said with a smile.  
"Okay, guys, storytime's over. I got to go fight the valiant knight now."  
Rade said with a smile as the kids got up and returned to their parents to  
gaggle about the story they'd heard. Danny overheard some of them whisper  
about having a great knight right in front of their eyes. A little boy walked  
up to him and smied.  
"I don't have any candy. I'm sorry." Danny told the boy.  
"I know. Where's your horse?" The boy asked innocently.  
"My what?" Danny asked.  
"Your horse. All knights have horses, don't they?"  
"His was repossessed by the Federal government." Rade exclaimed as she  
walked up to them. "Go on back to your mommy and daddy, okay?" She  
encouraged. The boy nodded and ran off. "I didn't know you frequented coffee  
shops, reporter." She said softly.  
"Funny. I didn't know you were in Washington. I usually know these  
things." Danny retorted.  
"So I did some traveling. It's not a headliner."  
"Where are your parents?"  
"Is this an interview? Cause if it is, I demand a hundred bucks up front  
or no deal." Rade said with a smirk. The smirk faded as Danny stared at her  
with a concerned look on his face.  
"What's going on here?" He asked softly.  
"Listen, I'd just as soon not tell you, Mr. Washington Post or whatever  
it is you write for." Rade replied as she moved for the cashier with her  
check in hand. Danny sighed and did the same. The coffee didn't smell as good  
anymore.  
"Fine. Make it off the record. What's going on? Rade, you're only sixteen  
years old. Are you telling me that you came to DC on your own?" He asked as  
he handed forward his money.  
"Why is it not okay for a sixteen year old to do whatever she wants and  
then two years later, she's free as a bird?" Rade retorted.  
"So that's a yes." Danny said softly.  
"It's not a yes or a no. It's a simple question. What changes in two  
years that says 'now you can't do it' and 'now you can'?" Rade pointed out.  
"Rade, I'm calling the White House." Danny exclaimed.  
"Don't. Please." Rade said with puppy dog eyes. "I'm not gonna be here  
long. Just in and out."  
"Do your parents know you're here?"  
"Ask me if they care, Danny."  
"I'm calling."  
"My grandparents are out of town, remember? They took the weekend to go  
to London. They'll be back day after tomorrow." Rade pointed out.  
"Then I'll call Leo." Danny retorted as he fished out his cell phone.  
"Then I'll get on my bike and get as far away as possible."  
"You will not."  
"You're not my father, Danny. You can't tell me what to do."  
"I'm no one's father, but I'm not about to let you go off on your own.  
Now sit down while I call Leo and --"  
"This is none of your business, Danny." Rade snapped and headed for the  
door. Danny sighed and followed.  
"Don't do this, Rade. It's dangerous out there. I don't know how you got  
away from your secret service agent, but it's not safe out there. I know you  
trust Leo, even if you don't trust me. Let me call him out here, you can talk  
to him and the two of you can decide what happens next, okay?" He pleaded as  
Rade leaned against her midnight blue fixed up motorcycle. She looked at him,  
half her face still covered by a ragged shaft of dirty brown hair. "Just let  
me do this, Rade. Make an old Knight happy." Danny asked.  
"Fine. Fine." Rade muttered and went back inside the shop while Danny  
dialed.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? What's going on?? hehehe. Cya on the Internex.

~D.C.  
Batman

  

  


	2. Just One Wish 2

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

  
Leo signed another report and looked at Margaret pleadingly. She smiled  
and took the papers out of the room. Leo grinned and jumped out of his chair  
for the coat rack. It was time to go home. No more stupid papers to sign. As  
he got his jacket on, he heard the phone on Margaret's desk ring. Nooo, he  
thought. No more work today. He assured himself and went to fill his  
briefcase.  
"Leo -" Margaret started.  
"Tell them to call tomorrow." Leo exclaimed.  
"It's Danny. He says it's *very* important that he talk to you." Margaret  
replied. Leo frowned and nodded. What could Danny be calling about? Leo  
grabbed the receiver.  
"Yeah, Danny. I'm here." He exclaimed.  
"Leo, listen. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm at Gracie's Coffee Shop  
and Rade is here." Danny's voice came through kind of loud and crackly. Leo  
could tell he was on a cell phone.  
"Rade?" He repeated.  
"Yeah, Rade. Listen, Leo, I could be wrong, but I'm getting the  
impression that her parents don't exactly know that she's here. She didn't  
want me to call anyone, but you know..." Danny trailed off.  
"Yeah, I'm on my way. Where is this place?" Leo asked as he looked for a  
scrap of paper to write the address down on. He scribbled as Danny spoke and  
then nodded. "Okay. I'll probably be there in about ten minutes. Keep her  
there, Danny." He added before hanging up.

**************************  
"You can't do that." Rade pointed as she laughed. Danny grinned  
innocently and raised his hands.  
"Hey, no one ever said there were rules to this game." He exclaimed as he  
drew a few more cards. Rade laughed and looked over the cards in her hand.  
"There are too rules. First and foremost, don't cheat. Second, you have  
to put the cards down in order, Danny, in order. Can you count to ten,  
Danny?" She asked as she picked up the cards he'd just put down and handed  
them back to him.  
"Sure I can. I, 4, 6, 2, 8, 3, 7, 9, 5, 10. There we go." Danny replied.  
"Play fair or I'll tell CJ you're a big fat cheater." Rade warned.  
"You know, word has it you went around telling people that I'm fat. I'm  
not fat, am I?" Danny asked with puppy dog eyes as he took the cards back.  
Rade laughed and shrugged.  
"No, I was just seeing how CJ would react to it. I heard that she stood  
up for you." She replied playfully. Danny grinned.  
"You, ma'am, are a troublemaker." He exclaimed.  
"I, sir, am a Bartlet." She pointed out. He laughed and nodded. Rade  
smirked and then looked at the door as Leo walked in. "And it begins." She  
added softly. Danny looked back and then got to his feet. The game was over.  
Rade slowly started picking up her cards as Leo walked over.  
"Thanks, Danny." Leo said softly. Danny nodded and looked at Rade.  
"Maybe I'll see you later." He said softly.  
"If I'm still alive." Rade said as she glanced at Leo.  
"You will be." Leo promised. Danny nodded and left as Leo took his place  
at the booth. "What are you doing here? Do your parents know you're here?"  
"Can I lie and say yes?" Rade asked softly. Leo groaned. "Leo, you don't  
know what's going on."  
"Then tell me what's going on." Leo insisted. Rade shook her head and  
looked at her hands which were slightly trembling as she put the cards away.  
"It's been a month, Leo. It's so weird, when I left this place after July  
4th, I honestly thought things had changed and they were going to get better.  
That was probably the stupidest thing I could have done." She said softly.  
"Problems with my dad can't be solved by singing a song or playing the  
guitar. We talked and stuff, but we never really just focused on the stuff  
that had gone wrong. Maybe if we had I wouldn't be here now, but I am. And  
I'm not going back." She said softly as she looked at him. Leo noticed now  
the hair that hung in her face. It covered her right eye and hung down to the  
middle of her cheek.  
"What happened, Rade? Did you and your father have a fight?" He asked  
softly. Rade chuckled bitterly.  
"To say the least." She replied in an almost whisper before looking at  
him again. "I know this looks bad, and I know I look even worse, but there  
are so many things that just can't be explained. Leo, I'm not going back. And  
you can't tell granddad that I'm here. He'd kill me."  
"He wouldn't. He'd want to know what had happened." Leo assured her.  
"Just like me. Come on, talk to me. It isn't like you to run away. Let's just  
call your parents and get this straightened out. They're probably worried  
sick about you."  
"I've been gone for two days, Leo." Rade said sharply. "And I'm willing  
to bet you haven't heard a thing from them." She added. Leo paused. She was  
right. Jed had mentioned nothing about Rade, and he himself had gotten no  
calls.  
"Two days?" he repeated. Rade nodded as a tear fell out of her eye.  
"They don't care that I'm gone, trust me on that. I used to run away from  
them all the time. I'd go to Jake's house for a few hours or overnight and  
then my parents would call and tell me to take out the trash." She exclaimed  
weakly. "I couldn't go to Jake's this time, so I grabbed some stuff, got on  
my bike and just hit the road. I'm not going back there, Leo."  
"Why couldn't you go to Jake's this time?" Leo asked softly. Rade stared  
at her hands.  
"Because a week ago, Jake walked in on an armed robbery at the  
Seven-Eleven across the street from his house and was shot twice in the  
chest." She retorted softly. Leo stared at her in shock. Tears began to  
stream down her face as she started shaking across the booth from him. Leo  
got up and swung around to sit next to her and take her in his arms. She  
cried into his shoulder as he held her tightly against him.  
"I'm sorry, Rade. I'm so sorry." He whispered. She shook her head and  
struggled to get out of the booth, but Leo wouldn't move. He held her tighter  
and tried to rock her gently. She relaxed and just held on to him. "Sshh.  
It's okay. Shh, sweetie, it'll be okay." He assured her.  
"No, it won't." She retorted before slipping away from him to duck under  
the table and get out away from him. He was quick on her heels as she barged  
for the door. When they were outside, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back  
before she could reach her bike.  
"Rade, don't run away from this." He said sternly but kindly. She shook  
her head.  
"I can't go back there, Leo." She cried.  
"Because of Jake?" He asked.  
"Because of my father!" She snapped as she pulled away from him and  
collapsed against her bike. "Because of my stupid father." She muttered as  
she hid into the bike. Leo knelt down next to her.  
"What happened, Rade?" He asked softly.  
"He hit me, Leo. I don't even remember what I said." She said softly. "We  
were arguing, as usual and he put his hands on the back of this chair, and I  
said something, I don't even remember what, and the next thing I knew, he  
raised his hands and hit me."  
"My god." Leo whispered.  
"Leo, he didn't let go of the chair." Rade whimpered as she looked at  
him. Leo reached forward and brushed the shaft of hair out of her face.  
Nearly the entire top half of her face was badly bruised and there was a long  
gash along her face, coming narrowly close to her eye. The gash was not  
fresh, but it had not been looked at and it seemed to be slightly red and  
lightly shiny.  
"Are you telling me that your father hit you... with a chair?" Leo  
asked softly as he tried not to stare at the wound. Rade cried and curled  
into a ball. Leo held her close and rocked her gently. "I have to take you to  
the doctor, Rade. We have to get that looked at." He whispered. Rade was in  
no position to argue with him as she just cried in her little ball. Leo held  
her close and just rocked her gently as she let lose into him all the  
emotions she'd been holding up for almost two days.  
"I'm just so scared, Leo."

TBC.....  
Feedback? Comments? It's slightly, strange, I know, but hey... Aren't we  
all?

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	3. Just One Wish 3

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1

Doctor Dean Crawford was a busy man usually. Tonight, his office was  
quiet as he hung up his stethoscope and started to peel off his lab coat. As  
he hung that up the phone rang. Outside his office, his assistant Rita, who  
was coincidentally his cousin, picked up the phone and said "Hello, Dr.  
Crawford's office. How may I help you?" in a voice that would kill a cat. The  
things Dean did for his family members. At least she didn't sound like her  
mother. She really did kill a cat once. He wasn't sure how, really, but he  
didn't really want to know.  
"Dean? It's some guy named Leo McGarry?" Rita screeched in her Brooklyn  
accent. Dean nodded and grabbed his phone.  
"I got it, Rita, thanks." He called before lifting the receiver to his  
ear. "Mr. McGarry?"  
"Hey, Dean. Listen, would you be willing to see my goddaughter? I know  
it's kind of late, but I'm a little worried about this gash on her face."  
Leo's voice asked through the line. Dean glanced at the clock and then nodded.  
"Sure. Could you tell me what happened to her?" Dean asked.  
"Well, I'm on my way now. She's in the car with me, so I don't really  
want to go over the details. She got this thing two days ago and I don't like  
the looks of it." Leo said, avoiding the question.  
"Okay. Bring her in and I'll take a look at it." Dean assured the worried  
man. Leo grunted and glanced over at Rade who was staring vacantly out the  
window. He'd loaded her stuff into the back of his car and much to her  
dismay, elected to leave the bike behind and send someone get it in the  
morning.  
"Okay. I'm about five minutes away, Dean. Bye." Leo said before hanging  
up. "You still with me over there?" He asked softly.  
"Not because I want to be." She retorted. "What if someone takes my bike,  
Leo? I spent a lot of my own money on that and a lot of my time fixing it up.  
That's a good bike out there." She exclaimed.  
"Which would you prefer, your bike or your health?"  
"My bike!"  
"Maybe that wasn't such a good question." Leo muttered as he turned his  
car down a driveway and pulled into the medical center's parking lot.  
"It's been a long time since you've dealt with a teenager, hasn't it?"  
Rade teased. Leo rolled his eyes and parked.  
"Come on. Let's get that looked at." He exclaimed.  
"No, you go ahead. Just leave me the keys, will ya?" Rade called.  
"Rade, get out of the car, now." Leo insisted sharply. Rade sighed and  
got out of the car. She followed him to the elevator and watched silently as  
he hit one of the buttons. "Rade, it's gonna be okay, but first we have to  
get that checked out so that it doesn't become infected. If it does, you  
could become seriously ill." Leo tried to explain.  
"I took Biology, Leo. As a matter of fact, I got an A in it too." Rade  
added dryly. Leo sighed. She was having a set of mood swings, and he wasn't  
going to even *try* to do anything about it.  
"Good for you." He exclaimed as he followed her into the elevator car and  
hit the button for the 8th floor. They rode up in silence and then the doors  
opened again. Leo walked out, making sure Rade was with him and then led her  
to Dean Crawford's door. He walked in and nodded to Rita.  
"Hi, Mr. McGarry. You can right on in." She screeched. Rade winced and  
stared at the woman like she was insane.  
"You know," Rade started in a voice that was mimicking Rita's. "Tawking  
like that can be dangerous to yer health."  
"Rade!" Leo snapped. Rade smiled and moved on while Rita tried to figure  
out what had just been said to her. She gave up a moment later and went back  
to painting her nails. Rade followed Leo into a room where a handsome  
middle-aged doctor was talking to her godfather.  
"Here, my liege." She said and bowed before them. Leo glared at her while  
the doctor smirked.  
"You must be Rade. Come over and let's take a look at your face." Dean  
exclaimed as he gestured to a bed-type seat. Rade took a deep breath and  
climbed up on top of the thing and waited for Dean to come and poke her  
wound. He came along, putting on a pair of rubber gloves, and gently brushed  
the hair out of her face. "Wow. That's a pretty nasty gash there." He  
murmured. "I'm gonna have to clean it, Rade. Might hurt."  
"Will it hurt as much as getting the gash in the first place?" Rade  
retorted.  
"Probably not. Hang on." He replied honestly as he fished out a bottle  
and a swab. Gently he dipped the swab into the bottle and cleaned out the  
wound. She winced every once in a while, but didn't make a sound. When he was  
done, Dean threw out the swab and put the bottle back before getting a piece  
of sterile gauze and gently pressing it to the wound. "Hold that there a few  
minutes while I go talk to Leo, okay?" He said. She nodded, her eyes showing  
him how bored she was, and leaned back against the seat. Dean moved outside  
the room with Leo and closed the door. "Leo, how did she get that?"  
"She says her father hit her with a chair." Leo replied softly.  
"She says? You don't believe her? I've never seen that kind of bruising  
before. Whatever did cause it was moving, from the direction of the gash.  
There was a lot of force behind what did that to her." Dean said sternly. "If  
her father did that to her, with a chair or whatever, I'm going to have to  
call the CPS."  
"Dean, she's with me. Her father is in Virginia. I'm the White House  
Chief of Staff, a few steps higher than the CPS. I'm gonna keep her at my  
house tonight and tomorrow we're going to talk and sort this out. You don't  
need to call anybody. Just help her so that that thing doesn't get infected."  
Leo ordered softly. Dean nodded and reached into his lab coat to pull out his  
prescription pad.  
"Okay. I'm gonna give her some scripts for some antibiotics and some  
painkillers. You still get your stuff from Vermillion's pharm?" The younger  
man asked as he grabbed his pen. Leo nodded. "The wound is in such a place  
that I can't really bandage it well without wrapping her head, and I don't  
want to do that. If she wants to keep wearing her hair in front of it, I'd  
understand, but she needs to wash her hair regularly. Keep her indoors and  
away from dusty areas. I don't want to get anything in there. She takes the  
antibiotics four times a day and the painkillers whenever she feels she needs  
to. I want to see her again in a week."  
"All right. I got it." Leo replied. Dean nodded and opened the door again  
to find Rade standing on the bedseat, still holding the gauze to her face  
with one hand while trying to examine the light fixture. "Rade, what are you  
doing?" Leo asked calmly. Dean couldn't help but chuckle. This was one  
eccentric kid.  
"I'm trying to figure out if the speed of light applies to this  
particular fixture." Rade replied before tossing a piece of paper at the  
light switch. The lights went off immediately. "See? It does."

************************************  
"I can't believe you did that!" Leo laughed as he unlocked his apartment  
door and led the way inside. Rade shrugged with a smirk and moved into the  
living room where she dropped her guitar case and backpack on the ground.  
"Hey, he was asking for it, okay?" Rade retorted as she looked around the  
place. "If a guy comes up to you and asks for money and he's wearing fairly  
new reebox, I'm not gonna entertain him. I'm gonna do what I did."  
"You acted like you were blind!!" Leo exclaimed.  
"I was there." Rade reminded him. "But the look on his face was worth it.  
He's not gonna try that again." She added.  
"You're right. He'd be too scared!" Leo retorted.  
"Good." Rade muttered as she collapsed on to the couch. "So these are  
your digs, huh?" She asked as she looked around.  
"No, I picked the lock. This place belongs to that receptionist." Leo  
retorted dryly. Rade chuckled.  
"I hope not."  
"You should have been nice to her."  
"No one talks like that, Leo. Come on, no one."  
"I agree, but you should have been nicer."  
"She didn't even realize I was being mean."  
"Still--"  
"Anything to do around here besides argue about a receptionist with the  
IQ of 12?" Rade interrupted. Leo shrugged and looked around.  
"You hungry?" He asked.  
"Ate." She replied.  
"I don't have a lot of movies."  
"I figured."  
"We'll find something."  
"Want to hear some rock music?"  
"Not particularly."  
"Okay. You come up with something."  
"This is gonna be a loooong night."

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Pwease? Pwetty pwease?

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	4. Just One Wish 4

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1

Rade opened her eyes and looked around. Her face hurt a little as she sat  
up and looked about the room. She'd elected to sleep on the couch because it  
was something she was used to. She got to her feet and dragged herself to the  
kitchen where Leo was sitting on the counter in a suit, drinking coffee and  
readng the crossword. He looked awake and fresh.  
"What time is it?" She murmured sleepily. Leo looked at her.  
"Almost seven. You didn't have to get up now." He exclaimed.  
"Tell that to my brain, only do it quieter." She retorted. He chuckled  
and nodded. She smiled and ruffled his hair before leaning against the  
counter and yawning. "You have a shower?"  
"No, I prefer not to clean myself. Margaret finds it kind of annoying but  
\--" Leo started with a grin.  
"Okay, okay, Just asking. You mind if I use it?" She asked. "Then maybe I  
can make myself presentable to whoever it is that I might see today."  
"Sure, go ahead." Leo replied. "I didn't even think about what I was  
going to do with you today." He realized.  
"What you're going to 'do with me'? Thanks, Leo." Rade said with a  
chuckle. Leo chuckled and pointed down the hall. Rade grabbed her bag and  
headed for the bathroom. About fifteen minutes later, she reappeared with  
slightly soaked hair and a change of clothes on. She went into the living  
room and rifled through her backpack. Leo emerged from the kitchen.  
"You wanna come to work with me? The guys would love to see you and your  
grandparents aren' t coming back until tomorrow, so you don't have to worry  
about running into them." He suggested as he approached her. "Might be kind  
of fun to see you talk to Toby again. He was actually pretty decent last time  
you were here. Maybe you can get him to do that again." He said with a grin.  
"Toby's not so bad. People just don't know how to treat him the right  
way. With people like that, you gotta know what you're doing." Rade murmured  
as she looked around in the black backpack.  
"So is that a 'yes, you want to come and help out us poor folk who don't  
know how to treat Toby the right way' or a 'no, I think you should go and  
face the monster all by your lonesome'?" Leo asked with a smirk. Rade fished  
out her wallet and slipped into her back pocket before going to the kitchen  
to get a drink to take her meds with.  
"It's a 'what would we say to them once we got here?'" Rade replied  
before putting two pills in her mouth and downing them with orange juice. Leo  
paused, knowing what she meant. "They deserve to know the truth, because  
what's going to happen when a reporter, one we don't trust the same way we  
trust Danny, finds out that I ran away from home, and not only that, that I  
ran away from home with a four inch gash on my face? What's going to happen  
then, Leo? But then again, if we tell them, I'm gonna have to deal with their  
sympathies and their looks and their reactions and then the press, if they  
find out. What happens to Granddad if gets it out? What happens to me? My  
parents? Annie? Yeah, Leo, I'd love to tag along with you, cause the truth is  
I have nothing else to do."  
"They will find out eventually, Rade. Do you want to be there when they  
do? They'll give you what you ask for. As for the press, this is our job and  
we will handle it as best we can and I guarantee you, your wishes and needs  
will come first when we do, not your grandfather. This is about you, not him,  
and I know the others will feel the same way." Leo replied. Rade looked at  
the counter as she put her glass down on it. Then she looked at him.  
"Let's go to the White House."

******************************  
"I think 32 down is wrong." Rade announced as she counted the squares on  
the New York Times crossword while following Leo through the hallways. Leo  
sighed and shook his head.  
"I don't think they can go a week without getting one wrong. What is it?"  
He asked as he walked into his office, waved to Margaret and found his desk.  
Rade sat on his couch and counted the squares again.  
"Isn't Khaddafi eight letters?" She asked as she looked at him. He looked  
at her abruptly and moved over to look at the crossword. "Right there." She  
pointed it out to him. He cursed.  
"They did it again." He muttered.  
"Leo, did you want me to go over your agenda for today or did you want me  
to call the New York Times again?" Margaret asked as she stood in the  
doorway. Leo looked at her and chuckled.  
"What have you got for me, Margaret?" He asked with a smile. She looked  
at him suspiciously. "No, I'm not in a good mood just to confuse you." He  
added as he went back to his desk.  
"He's practicing for his acting class." Rade added.  
"Oh, shush. What's it look like today, Margaret?" Leo asked again.  
Margaret smirked and moved over with his schedule.  
"You have staff at nine, CJ's briefing is at ten today. You're meeting  
with the NSC at eleven. At one fifteen, congressman LeBrandt is coming to  
talk to you. At two, you see the joint chiefs. Three thirty you see O'Dwyer.  
Four thirty there's a meeting with the EPA junkies and that's it." Margaret  
recited from the top of her head.  
"You memorized his schedule?" Rade asked.  
"She's kinda freakish that way." Leo replied. "Thanks, Margaret." His  
assistant nodded and left the room. "It's a quarter to nine. You ready to do  
this?" He asked softly. Rade hesitated and then shrugged.  
"Do I really have a choice? They do deserve to know and I do wanna be  
there when they find out." She replied softly. Leo nodded and moved to sit  
next to her on the couch.  
"What's the answer to 2 across?" He asked as he put an arm around her  
shoulder. She raised an eyebrow and then smirked.  
"Liberty." She replied softly. He looked at her and smiled as he realized  
she was right. He pulled out a pen and filled in the answer. Then his phone  
rang. He got to his feet and moved to it.  
"McGarry. Yes. Okay, thanks." He said quickly before hanging up. "New  
York Times says they'll print a correction tomorrow." Rade laughed and  
nodded.  
"Leo, I need to talk to you before the meeting starts." CJ exclaimed as  
she walked in, not noticing Rade.  
"CJ." Leo interrupted.  
"Yes, Leo?" CJ asked.  
"Turn your head about ninety degrees to your left." He said slowly. CJ  
paused and then did so.  
"Rade!" She exclaimed. Rade laughed and got to her feet.  
"Hiya, CJ." She replied. CJ walked forward and hugged Rade hello with a  
grin on her face.  
"I didn't even know you were in town. Wow. I'm sorry for ignoring you. I  
didn't see you." She exclaimed.  
"Leo, what's this I hear about O'Dwyer vetoing 408?" Toby snapped as he  
walked into the room with Josh and Sam behind him.  
"You're not the only one." Rade said to CJ. The others looked at her.  
"Rade!" Sam exclaimed.  
"Uh oh." Josh said playfully.  
"Hey, boyos." Rade retorted before looking at Toby. "Heya, Ziegler." She  
said. He shook his head at her.  
"You back for round two?" He teased. She grinned and nodded.  
"I missed you too." She retorted. He laughed and moved over to hug her  
tightly. CJ, Josh and Sam exchanged surprised glances and then looked back as  
Rade and Toby sat down on the couch.  
"What are you looking at?" Toby snapped.  
"Nothing." The three said in unison before taking their seats. Leo  
chuckled and moved to lean his hands on the last empty chair.  
"Now, before we get to business today, we have to talk about Rade." He  
said softly, gaining a serious look.  
"What'd you do now?" Josh asked playfully as everyone looked at her. Rade  
smiled very weakly. Josh realized that he'd just asked a very stupid question  
and looked back at Leo.  
"The truth is that Rade's parents don't know that she's here, and neither  
does the President." Leo said slowly. Everyone looked at each other  
uncertainly and then at Rade who looked down at her hands.  
"Okay, I'll bite." CJ said softly. "What happened?" Rade looked at Leo  
and then brushed her hair behind her ears. CJ gasped weakly and looked at Leo  
who was watching gravely. Toby was sitting on Rade's left side so he didn't  
see the change, but he saw in the eyes of his colleagues that something bad  
had just been revealed. Rade looked at him and showed him the healing gash on  
her face.  
"Rade..." He said softly and reached up to gingerly stroke her face.  
She smiled weakly at him and then looked at her hands again. "What happened?"  
He asked and looked at Leo.  
"Apparently--" Leo started when the door from the Oval office opened and  
Jed Bartlet moved in through the door.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Please?? :) Batman needs some summer loving! :) I miss  
you guys!

~D.C.  
Batman


	5. Just One Wish 5

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1

Jed Bartlet nodded to his surprised secretary and then moved into the  
Oval office. He checked the papers on top of his desk and then smiled at the  
woman as she leaned in the doorway.  
"Don't worry, Mrs. Landingham. I'm okay. My wife was just getting a  
little sick of the Prime Minister. We decided to come home early. Is Leo in?"  
He asked. She nodded and pointed to the door.  
"Yes, Mr. President. They're holding the staff meeting right now." She  
answered him. He nodded and moved for the door. He pushed right in to see CJ  
sitting in a chair and Josh in the one next to her. He walked in as Leo was  
apparently mid-sentence, but his friend stopped short on seeing him.  
"Don't mind me. I just thought I'd drop --" Jed started and then he saw  
Rade sitting on the couch next to Toby, a four inch gash dangerously close to  
her eye nestled by a very large, painful looking bruise that nearly covered  
the entirety of the right side of her face.  
"Mr. President, we weren't expecting you back until tomorrow." Leo  
stammered. Jed looked at him with a confused expression and then back at Rade  
only to see freshly formed tears in her eyes.  
"Hi, Granddad." She said weakly, her voice cracking. He swallowed and  
looked at Leo again.  
"Rade, sweetie, what are you doing here?" He asked softly.  
"Mr. President, can I talk to you in the other office?" Leo started.  
"No." Rade said sternly. Everyone looked at her, including Leo. "If we're  
going to tell them all eventually, can't we do it in one blow?" She asked.  
She got to her feet and moved in front of Leo's desk, desperate for space.  
"Guys, I don't know what this does for you, and I'm sorry that it happened."  
She started. Leo moved to her with an endearing look on his face but she  
moved away. "The truth is that I ran away." She said as she looked at her  
grandfather. I ran away because I got in a fight with my father and he did  
this to me." She said through tears. "He grabbed this chair, one of those  
stupid wooden ones you can get at CostPlus or whatever and he hit me with it  
and so I ran away." She rambled as she approached hysterics. Leo looked at  
Jed and the others, a soft look in his eyes. "I'm not going back there." She  
added in a whisper. I'm not." Jed shook his head and moved towards her.  
"We won't make you go back, sweetie." He said softly. "You can stay here,  
and you don't have to go back." He assured her as he reached out to her. She  
bit her lip and then moved into his arms, crying against his lapels and  
hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, stroking her hair gently and kissing  
her head. "You don't have to go back, I promise." He whispered before looking  
at Leo. Leo nodded to the staff members who got to their feet and moved into  
the Oval office. Toby got to his feet and lingered, watching Rade and the  
President for a moment. Then he glanced at Leo who nodded. He nodded back and  
slowly, almost reluctantly. followed his colleagues into the other room. Leo  
nodded to his best friend and followed, going to the President's phone to  
dial the residence.  
"Abbey? Yeah, it's me. Yeah, I know you're back early." He said softly,  
looking at his co-workers tentatively. "Listen, could you come down to my  
office really quick?" He asked and then proceeded to tell her the whole  
story.  
Inside Leo's office, Rade tried to stop crying but she couldn't. Jed held  
her close and made soft soothing noises as he stroked her hair. He assured  
her that it was okay, but she wasn't sure she could believe him. The door to  
his right creaked open as Abbey leaned in with tears in her eyes. He looked  
at her, swaying his body a little so that Rade knew someone had entered. She  
looked at her grandmother, tears streaming down her face. Jed let go of his  
granddaughter as his wife moved across the room and Rade moved to meet her.  
He stood there a moment, watching his wife try to console the hysterical  
teenager. Abbey looked at him and then hugged Rade tighter. Jed nodded to his  
wife and then moved to the Oval office and shut the door. Everyone looked at  
him quietly.  
"Sir?" CJ said softly.  
"My wife is going to take her back to the residence." Jed said softly.  
"Leo, how did you find her?"  
"Danny called me, sir. He found her in a coffee shop." Leo replied. CJ  
looked at Leo in surprise. "He promised Rade that it was off the record,  
apparently." He added, trying to reassure the people who were looking at him  
in shock. Toby didn't really care what Leo had said, but Josh and Sam were  
slightly startled. Jed nodded and looked at his staff.  
"CJ, I don't want the press to know about this. Talk to Danny for us,  
make sure he knows how important it is that he doesn't tell anyone, but we  
need to keep this under wraps until I've talked to her parents." He exclaimed  
slowly. CJ nodded in a way that simply said 'of course'. Jed looked at Josh  
and Sam. "You two, business as usual. I don't want anyone knowing about this.  
For our sake, yes, but mainly for Rade's." He added. Josh and Sam nodded.  
"Okay, I want everyone out of here except Leo and him." He said, pointing to  
Toby. The three workers walked out and went back to their offices. Then Jed  
turned and looked at Toby who was staring at him expecantantly with a set of  
the softest eyes the President had ever seen out of the younger man.  
"Toby, I honestly don't know what to do with you." He said with a weak  
chuckle. "I know Rade connects with you somehow, probably because she's so  
much like you," He paused. "So I leave it to you to decide how you wanna be  
there for her."  
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Toby said softly. "Sir, with all due respect,  
what do you intend to do now?" He asked. Jed sighed and moved to his desk.  
Leo and Toby watched as he grabbed his phone.  
"Mrs. Landingham, could you get my daughter Elizabeth on the phone for me  
please?" He asked into the line.

TBC...  
Feedback? Comments? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with Tob- eer, sugar  
on top?

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	6. Just One Wish 6

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1

  
Elizabeth Bartlet Knox looked at her phone in surprise when it began to  
ring. She glanced at the clock and then back at the phone. Eric had promised  
to call her around ten thirty to tell her what his schedule for the day was  
looking like, but it was not even nine thirty. She folded the paper and  
grabbed the phone, convinced it was him just being sweet.  
"Knox residence." She exclaimed.  
"Liz." A gruff voice replied, a voice that was definitely not her husband.  
"Dad?" She said in surprise as she sat up in her chair. She glanced at  
the door to the backyard as Annie came in for a glass of juice.  
"You've got some explaining to do." He declared darkly.  
"Dad, what's wrong?" Liz asked softly.  
"Rade's here." Jed said simply. Liz looked at her youngest daughter and  
then held the phone down.  
"Annie, go back outside." She said softly.  
"Is that Rade?" Annie asked hopefully.  
"Go back outside, Annie." Liz repeated sharply. Annie winced and went  
outside with her juice. Liz pulled the phone back. "Dad, what did Rade tell  
you?"  
"She didn't have to tell me anything, Liz. She just had to show up with a  
four inch cut on her face and tears running down her face!" Jed snapped. "She  
says she's been gone since Friday, Liz."  
"Hey, dad, before you get to yelling at me, maybe you should hear what  
I've got to say, cause I don't know *what* she's told you." Liz exclaimed.  
"Well she mentioned something about being hit by her father with a  
chair." Jed said slowly but sharply.  
"Oh, please, dad. Eric did no such thing. He'd never hit Rade." Liz  
insisted. Jed glanced at Leo and Toby uncertainly.  
"Then what happened to her face?" He asked. Leo knew what the question  
meant and he very much wanted to know what the answer was.  
"She crashed that damn bike of hers." Liz exclaimed. "She skidded across  
the ground and came home with blood all over her shirt. Eric got mad at her,  
yes, and maybe he yelled more than he should have, but he didn't hit her. She  
ran to her room and the next day she was gone and so was that stupid bike.  
It's probably scratched up too. You could look and see for yourself." Jed  
looked at Leo and then back to the phone, trying to think.  
"Rade's been gone since Friday. Why haven't you called us?"  
"Dad, you're the President of the United States and several states away  
from us. I didn't want to concern you and I definitely didn't think that Rade  
would be going all the way up there. She's run away before and she usually  
came back sooner, I admit, but we've gotten to this point where we don't  
really think of it." Liz replied smoothly. "We thought she went to a friend's  
for the weekend or to Arlington as she's done a couple times before."  
"Three days, Liz?" Jed asked.  
"Listen, dad, who are you going to believe? Rade or me?" Liz asked  
sharply.  
"Don't take that tone of voice with me. Rade was in hysterics when I saw  
her today. Your mother had to take her to the residence to try and get her to  
calm down. I've got enough to deal with without you getting confrontational."  
Jed snapped in return. Liz took a breath and calmed down.  
"Okay. Well, when are you going to send her home?" She asked softly.  
"I'm not." Jed replied simply.  
"You're not?" Liz repeated.  
"No, I'm not. I'm not sending her home. She says she can't go back and I  
promised her that I wouldn't make her. If you want her to come home, you'd  
better come up here and talk to her, because I made a promise I intend to  
keep." Jed replied calmly. There was silence for a moment on the other line.  
"Fine. I'll call Eric. We'll be there as soon as we can." Liz said softly.  
"Okay. I'll see you soon." Jed replied before hanging up.  
"What'd she say?" Leo asked.  
"She said Rade scraped her bike, crashed it, which is what happened to  
her face." Jed replied.  
"You honestly believe her, sir?" Toby asked.  
"Toby, I've got a choice here: I can either believe my daughter or I can  
believe my granddaughter, cause either way, at least one of them is lying. Do  
you really want to be snapping at me right now?" Jed asked harshly. Toby  
paused and looked at his feet.  
"No, sir. I'm sorry, sir." He said softly.  
"It's okay. I know you mean well at least." Jed murmured. "Go back to  
work, Toby. There's nothing that can be done until we can find out for a fact  
what really happened." Toby nodded and left the room. Jed looked at Leo and  
shrugged. "Well? What now?"  
"Do you believe Liz?" Leo asked softly.  
"Do you?" Jed asked.  
"I honestly don't know."  
"Neither do I. Leo, I'd like to believe that I raised a good girl with  
Liz, that she wouldn't lie to me and that she wouldn't hurt her children. I  
need to believe that, but I saw that look in Rade's eyes, and I am so torn  
that I don't know what to believe." Jed admitted. Leo nodded.  
"You gonna go to the residence?" He asked. Jed nodded.  
"I'm not supposed to be in town anyway. I've got nothing scheduled today.  
I've got to talk to Abbey about this. And I have a feeling that Rade might  
not be too thrilled to hear her family's coming for a visit." He admitted.  
Leo nodded and looked around.  
"I'll hold the fort, Mr. President." He exclaimed. Jed smiled, patted his  
friend on the back and left the Oval office to head for the residence. Leo  
took a deep breath and went back to his office.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments?? Please???

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	7. Just One Wish 7

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1, thanks to Dallas for her help and AJ for her relentless  
encouragement. Please note, she cursed my computer, ladies and gentlemen.  
Otherwise, this would have come a lot sooner. ::Smiles at AJ::

Abbey stroked the hair out of Rade's eyes and tried not to concentrate on  
the gash that was so strongly evident on the child's face. As Rade murmured  
in her sleep, Abbey tried to think of what kind of world they lived in where  
a teenager, a child only just getting ready to face life, and now she was too  
afraid to even go home, a place that should have been her sanctuary. The door  
opened quietly, drawing the first lady's eyes to land on her husband. Abbey  
slowly slid away from the girl to venture out into the hallway with him.  
"I had to give her a sedative, Jed. She was hyperventilating and was in  
hysterics. She'll probably sleep for another few hours." She said softly. He  
nodded. "Did you call Liz?"  
"Yeah, she's coming down with Eric and probably Annie, she didn't say.  
She says Rade crashed her bike or something and scraped her face." Jed  
replied softly. Abbey frowned.  
"Didn't she get here on her bike? If she crashed it, how could it get her  
all the way up here?" She asked. Jed shook his head.  
"I don't know. Liz said that the bike is all scratched up and I can look  
for myself, so if she did crash, it must not have been that bad. The bike's  
being brought in later by the secret service. Maybe they can tell me if  
there's significant damage to it." He said softly.  
"Jed, do you know what this means?" Abbey asked softly. "It means one of  
them is lying to us."  
"I know. I just wish I knew which one." Jed said softly. Abbey sighed and  
hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and just tried to breathe.

******************************  
"Danny, can I speak to you for a moment?" CJ asked. Danny looked up from  
his typewriter and nodded.  
"Yeah, sure. I just gotta finish this sentence." He replied and typed  
quickly. Then he got to his feet and followed CJ to her office. "What's up?  
You wanna ask me out again?" He asked playfully. CJ rolled her eyes and  
closed the door.  
"First of all, I never asked you out, I just said yes to one of the many  
times that you asked me out and second of all, I need to talk to you about  
Rade." She said the second part softly as she looked him in the eye. He waved  
his hands.  
"I'm not gonna write about it, but I don't have to tell you, CJ. It's not  
gonna be long before someone else finds out about it. The President's  
granddaughter runs away from home? There's a lot to be said about that and a  
greedy reporter, not me, but someone out there itching for an exclusive is  
gonna be able to find one in this." Danny warned. CJ paused. Did he know  
about the gash?  
"Danny, this story is bigger than Rade running away from home." She said  
softly as she watched him. He paused. And thought.  
"The hair." He whispered. "The hair, it was covering something up, wasn't  
it? Oh, my God, I didn't even think of that." He cursed himself.  
"And if you had, would you have taken it on the record?" CJ asked with an  
eyebrow raised. Danny looked at her and firmly shook his head.  
"No, CJ, I wouldn't have, but there are so much bigger fish to fry now.  
What's it going to look like to a country when the President's granddaughter  
is being physically abused by one or both of her parents?" Danny asked  
sharply. "I'm upset because Rade deserves better than to be smacked around.  
Your boss is going to have a lot of problems, especially when a line of  
people begins to form in the 'who wants to beat up Rade's parents' contest, a  
line I'm gonna be in." He added sharply. CJ stared at him in amazement.  
"Danny, that has got to be the most powerful, wonderful thing that you  
have ever said about Rade but if you beat up her parents, my job is going to  
be a lot harder. I've got to keep Leo, Toby and the President off of her  
father. I don't know what's going on with Liz, because all I've heard is the  
father, so don't go after her just yet." She replied softly with a weak  
smile. Danny smiled and nodded, looking at his feet. She walked over to him  
and kissed him gently. He kissed her back, his hands resting on her waist.  
When they parted she leaned her forehead against his. "Danny." She whispered.  
"Yeah, CJ?" He asked softly.  
"Get out of here." She said with a smirk.  
"Okay."

***************************  
Toby moved up the stairs and past the guards in the hall. They nodded as  
they recognized him and tried to surpress the looks of confusion that were  
threatening to cross their faces. Toby ignored them, as he often did when  
encountering people who were confused about how he reacted with Rade. The  
truth was that nobody else knew what he and Rade had done that night that  
she'd stayed in his home. They didn't do anything sick, anything that people  
would disapprove of, but the night was such that now Toby could think of Rade  
without feeling a sense of paternal warmth. He neared her door and stopped  
when he saw Abbey Bartlet emerge from it. Abbey saw him and smiled.  
"You can go in if you want. She's sleeping now, but she might wake up any  
minute." She said softly. Toby hesitated and then nodded.  
"Thank you, Mrs. Bartlet." He said softly.  
"Call me Abbey, Toby." She replied before moving off. Toby took a deep  
breath and moved into the room, closing the door behind him. He saw the  
President sitting in a chair by Rade's bed, a book in hand as he turn the  
pages. Jed looked up at Toby, nodded and then went back to reading. Toby  
walked to the other side of Rade's bed and sat down on a chair. He watched as  
she slept, somewhat peaceful. She tossed once so that she was facing him in  
her sleep now. Jed saw it and chuckled then looked at his watch. He made a  
phone gesture to Toby and then left the room. Toby watched his boss leave and  
then looked back at Rade. What could he say to her when she woke up?  
Rade started to murmur slightly, bringing his attention raptly to her  
face. Her features had tightened somewhat and the first thing that came to  
his mind when reading it was fear. She was afraid of something. He moved to  
sit on the bed next to her and stroked the hair out of her face.  
"Dad . . no." She murmured. Toby's face tightened in anger as he heard  
the pain in her voice. "No, dad... I'm sorry..." She whispered. Toby  
moved to cup her face in his hand.  
"Rade, wake up. Come on, listen to my voice, Rade." He whispered to her.  
Her face began to relax under his touch. "That a girl." He said softly,  
brushing her cheek with his thumb. He felt her lean into his touch and  
smiled. "That a girl." He repeated in a whisper. But then her face tensed  
again and she thrashed across the covers. Toby moved to control her arms as  
she cried out.  
"Daddy, no!" She cried before her eyes snapped open and she saw Toby's  
face. She immediately flew forward and hugged him tightly as tears streamed  
down her face. Toby hugged her back without hesitation and just held her  
close.  
"Sssh. It's okay." He whispered to her as he stroked her hair and rocked  
gently. "No one's going to hurt you." He promised, now more sure than ever  
that there was never any bike accident.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Pwease?

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	8. Just One Wish 8

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See part 1  
NOTES: See Part 1

"Don't run too far." Liz called after Annie as they waited in the office  
outside the Oval. Eric was tapping his foot on the ground and his fingers to  
his knees as he glanced nervously at the clock. He didn't want to be there.  
He needed to be in Virginia, doing his job. He didn't need to be in  
Washington, he didn't need to be talking to the President and he didn't need  
to have to deal with Rade. She wanted to rebel, she wanted to run away, that  
was her decision. Eric believed that at times like this, the best thing to do  
was nothing at all.  
"I won't, mom." Annie called as she disappeared into the hallway. Liz  
sighed and shook her head.  
"Doesn't listen." She said with a soft smile.  
"You can go in now." Mrs. Landingham exclaimed gently. Liz nodded and got  
to her feet. Eric hesitated and then found himself being grabbed by his wife  
and dragged into the Oval office. They looked around the empty room and  
nearly jumped when Mrs. Landingham closed the door behind them. They'd been  
in the room before, but it was never so nerve-wracking as it was now. The  
door on the other side of the room opened and Jed Bartlet walked in.  
"Sorry to keep you waiting." He exclaimed kindly. "Leo had a problem with  
Congressman LeBrandt and I thought I'd give him a hand." He explained as Leo  
entered the room behind his boss and closed the door.  
"Mr. President, I don't see why we're here. You could have easily put  
Rade on a plane or a train or something." Eric pointed out. Jed paused,  
looking at the man with a squinted eye.  
"I made a promise to my granddaughter that I would do no such thing. Your  
wife, my daughter, is the one who made the decision to come down here, and  
she seems to have insisted you come along." He replied. Eric sighed and  
looked at his wife who glared at him.  
"Did you look at her bike, dad?" Liz asked.  
"No, but Ron Butterfield did. He said it was slightly scratched up, but  
nothing worthy of a crash." Jed reported honestly. "Leo went to take a look  
and he said that it was scratched up but on the left side."  
"What are you trying to say?" Eric snapped.  
"I'm not trying anything. I'm telling you that it's looking more and more  
like my daughter has lied to me." Jed replied, looking at his daughter with a  
grave expression. Liz shook her head.  
"She must have fixed it up, dad. I swear to God, I did not lie to you."  
She exclaimed.  
"Where is she?" Eric asked.  
"I'm not letting you anywhere near her until I'm sure of the truth." Jed  
retorted.  
"Listen to me, you take me to the mat on this, Bartlet, and things will  
end up looking very bad for you. I know what Rade told you, but it's not  
true. I would not hit my child, especially not with a piece of furniture.  
Goddamn it, I don't know why you believe her anyway, especially when she's  
lied to you before."  
"She's never lied to us before." Leo interjected.  
"She has." Liz replied.  
"When?" Jed asked.  
"Well..." Eric started angrily.

***********************  
Toby opened his eyes and looked around. He stretched his neck and then  
looked down at Rade who was asleep on his side. He stroked her hair and then  
looked at the first lady who was watching them both from a chair. She smiled  
at him but he could tell she'd been crying. He smiled weakly at him and  
looked back down at Rade who was snuggled into his side. Rade stirred and  
looked up at him with a weak smile.  
"Hi there." He whispered.  
"Hi, Ziegler." She whispered back.  
"You get enough sleep, kiddo?" He asked softly.  
"I had a nice pillow." She murmured. He chuckled and ruffled her hair  
gently. Rade turned her head and looked Abbey, still snuggling into his side.  
"Hi grandmom." She whispered.  
"Hi, sweetie." Abbey replied.  
"Where's granddad?" Rade asked sleepily.  
"Right here." Jed exclaimed as he walked into the room. Rade stiffened  
slightly as she saw her parents were right behind him.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Pwease??

~D.C.  
Batman

  


	9. Just One Wish 9

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

"Rade!" Annie squealed as she ran into the room. Rade pulled away from  
Toby to embrace her younger sister. Annie hugged Rade tightly and snuggled  
into her. Rade just held her sister tight and tried not to look at her  
parents.  
"Rade, you have a lot of explaining to do." Eric snapped.  
"No, I've got nothing to say to you." Rade replied softly as she looked  
at him.  
"Rade, your parents and I have been talking." Jed started.  
"You're gonna send me back with them, aren't you?" Rade asked softly.  
Toby, who had gotten to his feet, stared at Jed, waiting for an answer. Abbey  
stared at her husband, also waiting.  
"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to. I just think  
that you should talk to them. If you want, I'll stay here. Toby, your  
grandmom." Jed said softly. Rade shook her head.  
"I have nothing to say to them." She said softly.  
"Rade, are you coming home?" Annie asked softly as she looked at her big  
sister. Rade looked into Annie's eyes and smiled weakly.  
"No, sweetie, I'm not." She replied.  
"Yes, you are!" Eric snapped.  
"Shut up!" Toby retorted.  
"Who the hell are you?" Eric exclaimed.  
"My name is Toby Ziegler, and --" Toby started.  
"Toby." Jed interrupted with a calming glare. Toby sighed and looked away.  
"Well, Mr. Ziegler, you should learn to stay out of other people's  
business." Eric exclaimed sharply.  
"Screw you." Toby muttered. Eric started to say something but got an  
tender hand on his shoulder from his wife.  
"Rade, sweetie, I know you're angry with us for what happened, but  
there's no reason why you should continue to lie to your--" Liz started.  
"You believe them, don't you?" Rade demanded of her grandfather.  
"Don't interrupt your mother!" Eric snapped.  
"I'll do what I please!" Rade cried.  
"Let's just calm down." Jed tried.  
"You will not! Don't speak to me that way!" Eric exclaimed.  
"Everyone, shut up! Just shut up!" Annie screamed. Everyone looked at the  
young girl and saw the tears in her eyes. "Daddy, you can't do this! You  
can't lie to them! I saw you do it, I saw!!"  
"Annie, you don't know what you're saying." Eric started.  
"Rade came in late and you and mom were waiting. I came downstairs cause  
I wanted something to drink and I saw you yell at her and then she said  
something and you hit her! Daddy, you hit her with the chair!" Annie cried.  
Rade took her sister into a tight embrace and tried to sooth her. Jed looked  
at his son-in-law, his eyes flaring with anger.  
"You son of a bitch." Toby snapped and slammed his fist into Eric's face.  
Eric flew back to the ground.  
"Toby!" Jed exclaimed and moved to stop his communications director from  
further attack. "I think that's quite enough. Ron, get him out of here." He  
called to the secret service agent. Ron came and took Eric out of the room.  
Liz was torn between following her husband and arguing with her family.  
"Liz, leave." Abbey said sharply as she glared at her daughter. Liz  
gulped, her lip trembling, and nodded. She moved out of the room, pausing  
only to look at her daughters. Annie was still crying into her older sister  
and Toby moved over to sit next to them. Rade looked at him and leaned into  
him. He tried not to wince for now his fist hurt like hell. Abbey moved to  
kneel next to Annie and stroked her back. Jed looked at his daughter, a dark  
look in his eyes. Liz nodded and walked out into the hallway to where her  
husband was nursing a bloody nose.  
"That bastard had no right to do that." Eric cursed.  
"He had every right." Liz said softly. "Let's go find you some ice."

********************************  
"I finally got her to sleep." Abbey said softly of her younger  
granddaughter as she walked into the bedroom that she shared with her  
husband. Jed nodded and took his wife into his arms. "God, I wish I knew what  
has happened to our family." She whispered as she hugged him tightly.  
"I don't know. I wish I did. It's so hard. I'm the leader of the free  
world and I don't even know what is happening to my family." He replied in a  
whisper. Abbey nodded and pulled back from him.  
"I'm going to go check on Rade, okay?" She whispered.  
"You've checked on her twelve times." Jed replied. "Let her be for the  
night." He insisted. Abbey paused and then shook her head.  
"No, I just want to make sure she's sleeping okay." She repeated and  
headed for the door. Jed sighed and watched his wife leave before sitting  
down on his couch. What *was* happening to his family? His daughter had lied  
to him. He knew that somewhere in the back of his mind, he was worried about  
the press of all this. He had to know what to say, but --  
"JED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Abbey's voice screamed through the halls. Jed  
jumped to his feet and ran for the source. He skidded to a halt in Rade's  
door as he saw his wife holding the young girl in her lap, blood streaming  
from the young girl's wrist, a small buck knife with a bloody blade hanging  
out of her other hand.

TBC.....

~D.C.  
Batman


	10. Just One Wish 10

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll take your seats." CJ said as sternly as  
she could despite all the emotions that were swerving through her right now.  
The circumstances dictated that the press conference happen as soon as  
possible. When the President's granddaughter slashed her own wrist in a guest  
room in the White House, the press were generally pretty good about finding  
out about it. As soon as the words left her mouth, the reporters began  
calling her name. "Please, we all know why we're here. Let's just get through  
this and then I'll try and answer your questions." She said softly.  
"Day before yesterday, the President's granddaughter came to visit Chief  
of Staff Leo McGarry and was taken to a private doctor to have a gash treated  
on the right side of her face. She's stayed with Mr. McGarry that night and  
came to the White House the next day. Her parents came to town to take her  
home. Upon their arrival, evidence was given that Eric Knox, Rade's father,  
caused the gash." CJ said slowly and then took a deep breath. "Last night, at  
approximately nine thirty, Rade was found with an apparently self-inflicted  
wound. She was taken to Bethseda hospital where she was treated and is  
currently in stable condition."

*********************************  
Jed hung his head over his knees and threaded his fingers through his  
hair and stared down the hallway. The lights were dim in the hospital, and  
even though Ron Butterfield was insistent, Jed was even more so. He wasn't  
going to sit in the White House while his granddaughter had a slash on her  
wrist. He looked at the knife in the small plastic bag. The small buck knife  
handle was intricately designed with images of leaves and a small deer. The  
end held the inscribed initials "E.K." Eric Knox. Was she trying to speak to  
her father?  
Why would she do this type of thing? No one was going to hurt her. No one  
was going to try and hurt her. She was going to be protected. She was safe,  
with people who loved her and who would protect her from Eric Knox. But she  
thought there was no hope and she had slashed her wrist. What did that mean?  
Luckily, Abbey had found her in time and they'd gotten her to the hospital.  
She was given a blood transfusion and the wrist was sewn up and bandaged. Now  
she rested in a recovery room, someone watching her at all times, despite the  
thin restraints that were loosely wrapped around her wrists and ankles. All  
that anyone could do now was wait. Jed got to his feet and left the hospital.

*****************************  
Rade opened her eyes and looked around. The room was dark but full of  
sounds, little ones. She leaned her head to the right and saw an empty bed  
and beyond that a dark window. She leaned her head to the right and saw an IV  
hanging over her bed along with several other machines. She felt a small  
sticker on her chest, probably a heart monitor of some sort. She looked to  
the chair by her door and grimaced. Leo was sleeping soundly in it. She  
groaned softly and looked at her wrist, seeing the white bandage that was  
wrapped around it. She looked back at Leo and found his eyes open and meeting  
hers.  
"Where am I?" She whispered. He got up and approached her bedside.  
"Hospital." He replied softly.  
"Why?" She asked with tears in her eyes. Leo sighed, his own eyes  
brimming.  
"Because we love you." He replied softly.  
"Why?" She repeated, her voice cracking.  
"Because you're a bright, wonderful, intelligent, funny young woman." He  
replied softly as he moved to sit next to her. She shook her head, tears  
streaming down her face. He reached up to wipe them away and nodded. "You  
are."  
"Leo... My own father... I could never make him see, no matter  
what. I wanted to make him see." She said weakly. "I can't be here. Leo, I  
don't belong... anywhere." She whispered.  
"You do." He replied. "You belong. Sweetie, we love you. Your father will  
never get near you again. You don't ever have to do anything you don't want  
to. You can make your own choices now."  
"Can I? Will I be able to?" She asked him softly.  
"If you can't, I'll help you. So will your grandparents, and I know Toby  
will. He practically tried to kill your father. We will protect you and we  
will take care of you." He whispered.  
"Even after this?" She asked as she raised her bandaged wrist.  
"Especially after this." He assured her.  
"Why?" She asked as the tears started to slow.  
"Because you need us, and we need you." He replied. Rade nodded and  
kissed the palm of his hand.  
"And father?" She asked softly.  
"You'll never have to see him again if you don't want." Leo assured her.  
"And Granddad? They know, don't they? The Press? I really screwed this  
up." Rade whispered. Leo hesitated and then shook his head.  
"We can handle the press. You didn't screw up anything. Nothing has  
happened that wasn't going to happen anyway. As long as you're okay, you  
haven't done anything wrong." Leo whispered. Rade nodded and then looked past  
Leo to the doorway. Tears flooded to her eyes. Leo turned and saw Toby  
standing in the doorway, looking very tired.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Can the death threats please stop now??

~D.C.  
Batman


	11. Just One Wish 11

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

Toby watched as Leo closed the door behind him and then looked at Rade.  
She seemed so small, so innocent. He moved forward and sat by her on the bed.  
Without any words, he reached up and wiped her tears away. She leaned against  
his touch and tried to say something, but it was as if her voice didn't work  
anymore. He shook his head and just wiped away the tears. She sat up and  
hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and stroked her hair.  
"I'm sorry." She whispered.  
"So am I." He replied softly.

******************************  
"CJ?" Danny asked as he leaned in the doorway to her office. CJ looked up  
at him and motioned for him to come in. He did so, closing the door behind  
him. "How are you doing?"  
"Not as well as I was last time I talked to you." She said softly as she  
got to her feet and walked around her desk. He nodded, approaching her  
slowly. She leaned forward and hugged him tightly, crying softly into his  
shoulder. He hugged her back, holding her close.  
"It's okay, CJ. She's going to be okay." He whispered.  
"Is she?" CJ asked softly through her tears. He nodded and held her  
tighter.  
"As long as we're here for her and each other, we'll be fine." He  
promised her.

*******************************  
Abbey watched her youngest granddaughter sleep. It had taken awhile, but  
sleep had taken over, as it would inevitably do so anyway. She sighed and  
rubbed her eyes. She was so frightened, felt so out of control and it wasn't  
a feeling she was used to. She was married to one of the most powerful men in  
the world and she didn't even know what her family was going through. Her  
daughter had lied to her. Why? Her daughter had protected a man that was  
beating her children. Had they really done such a haphazard job in raising  
Liz? Abbey had always believed that she and Jed had done their best by their  
children, raised them with the same values that they had, values of respect  
and honor and so much more. What had happened in the mix that suddenly Liz  
believed that not only was it okay that her husband beat their children, but  
that it was also only right to lie about it? Abbey sighed again and leaned  
forward in the armchair. Eric had always talked about "preserving the  
integrity of the President" and she could remember hearing him tell the  
children to behave because what they did reflected on Jed. Maybe that's why  
Liz lied, to protect her father. But still, why would she let Eric get away  
with it? There were just too many questions, Abbey thought, and none of the  
answers were good.  
Behind her, the door silently creaked open as Jed leaned in to watch his  
wife and granddaughter. What had happened to his family? The only thing he  
wanted to do right now was walk over to the Knox's hotel and beat the crap  
out of his son-in-law. But he couldn't do that. He was still the President,  
and no matter how helpless he felt or was, violence wasn't the answer.  
Besides, Toby had beaten him to it.  
He leaned back out of the room, closing the door behind him and heading  
down the hall towards the stairs. As he moved down to the lower level and  
turned towards the West Wing, his soul was still spinning in turmoil as he  
tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do next. He wanted to call  
out the 82nd airborne and have Eric Knox blown to bits. He wanted to scream  
and beat furniture into feathery pulps. He wanted to take Rade in his arms  
and protect her from the world, let her know that all was not lost.  
He moved to the Oval office silently and sat down at his desk. He then  
reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded note. He turned it over and  
over in his hands as he thought about the events of the past few days. He'd  
read it too many times, and carried it with him, though no one knew as such.  
He opened it up and read it again.  
"They say if you kill yourself, you will go to hell.  
But the reason we kill ourselves is because we're there already.  
I'm sorry."  
Jed folded the note back up and stuck it back into his pocket. He was  
dressed casual today, all his appointments canceled as the White House tried  
to deal with the disaster. To his left, Leo's door opened to reveal the  
entrance of the tired looking chief of staff. Jed looked at him and their  
eyes met. Leo almost winced as he saw the pain and confusion in his best  
friend's eyes.  
"She woke up, Mr. President." He said softly. Jed nodded weakly.  
"What happened, Leo?" He whispered. Leo sighed and closed the door before  
moving to sit on the couch and trying to think of an answer.  
"I suppose we all want to believe our lives are perfect. As the  
President, we always believed that your family was stable, or at least more  
stable than most in this country. We thought there'd be a problem when Jenny  
left, the Chief of Staff can't even hold his marriage together, but it  
didn't. The President has a daughter and son-in-law who abuse at least one of  
their children, but you didn't know, sir. We'll get through this, and things  
will change for the better." Leo said slowly.  
"But that doesn't answer my question." Jed returned softly as he got to  
his feet and walked over to the other couch to sit down again. "I asked what  
happened? We raised Liz, Marielle and Zoey all the same. We taught them about  
respecting living things and the difference between right and wrong. We tried  
to instill in them the same ideals that we hold dear, and now I find that my  
daughter not only stands by while her husband hits her child with a *chair*  
but then she lies to me about it and makes up excuses? Leo, what happened?"  
"I don't know, Mr. President." Leo replied honestly after a long pause.  
"But I do know one thing: a lot of other people are asking themselves that  
same question." He added softly.

***************************  
Liz sat in a small chair in her hotel room, watching her husband sleep.  
So much had happened in the past week, she didn't know how to control  
herself. She still didn't know why she'd lied to her father. She was angry  
with Eric for what he did, but she couldn't find herself able to tell the  
truth. Her family was falling apart, and she didn't know what to do about it.  
It had all started when that damn Martin kid had to go and get himself shot.  
Since then, Rade had found it necessary to be more irritable than ever  
before. It was only a matter of time before her temper and Eric's clashed.  
There was an abrupt knock at the door, bringing Liz's attention back to  
reality. She got up, walked up to the door and peered through the peephole  
before opening the door.  
"Zoey." She said simply. "Hi. Do you want to--"  
"Rade woke up." Zoey interrupted harshly, a cold look in her eyes.  
"I'm glad. Does she want to see--" Liz started again.  
"No." Zoey said sharply.  
"Maybe we should talk, Zoey." Liz whispered.  
"I just came in person because I wanted to see you for myself, Liz. I  
never would have thought anything like this could happen." Zoey said softly  
but coldly. "I just have one question for you: Who are you?" She asked.  
"What do you mean?" Liz asked.  
"The sister I once had would never have let anything like all this  
happen. You used to be there for me, and I remember the times we shared. What  
happened to the sweet, loving sister I used to have? Who are you and what did  
you do with her?" Zoey asked in more detail. Liz hesitated as tears came to  
her eyes.  
"I don't know. Zoey, the real world was so much tougher than I thought  
and Rade was just --" Liz started.  
"Don't blame this on her. Blame it on yourself." Zoey interrupted and  
then walked away. Liz watched her younger sister disappear down the hallway  
and then turned back into her hotel room and locked the door. She turned into  
the room and saw her husband watching her.  
"What have you done?" She asked softly before running into the bathroom  
and locking the door behind her.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Please??

~D.C.  
Batman


	12. Just One Wish 12

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1  
ALSO: "Adam's Song" is a song of Blink 182, and is not mine.

Sam leaned back in his seat and tapped his forehead with his pen. He was  
trying to think but it was hard. He couldn't breathe, let alone think. He had  
to write a statement for the President. He had to explain to the country why  
a sixteen year old girl would cut her own wrist, even after having proven  
that she wasn't lying about her father's abuse. Rade had nothing to be scared  
of any more. She practically had the entire US military on standby to get  
between her and her father, so there was no reason for her to die. And yet  
she'd tried.  
"Sam?" A soft voice asked as his door creaked open a few inches. He sat  
up and beckoned the visitor in. "You working?" Mallory asked as she closed  
the door behind her. He sighed and debated whether to nod or shake his head.  
"I don't know." He said finally. She smiled and nodded, moving towards  
him slowly. "How are you feeling?" He asked, knowing how much the whole  
situation had affected the woman he loved.  
"I don't know. I honestly don't. My father and Jed Bartlet practically  
raised all as one big family and I just don't understand how Liz could do  
this." She replied softly. He nodded, took a hold of her hand and helped her  
to sit on his lap. She smiled at him and snuggled into his chest.  
"We're all just trying to get beyond this. We're just trying to  
understand and adapt. I promise you though, whatever you need me for, I'm  
here." He whispered as he kissed her head. She smiled and looked into his  
eyes.  
"That's very sweet of you, Sam." She whispered.  
"Well, I'm a sweet guy." He replied with a tired smirk.  
"Sometimes. When your foot's not in your mouth." She replied playfully  
and kissed him gently. He kissed back and nodded.  
"I'm working on that. I promise." He said playfully before she kissed him  
again.

**************************  
Donna took a deep breath and rested her hand on the door handle. She took  
another deep breath and leaned into the room. Josh was sitting in his chair,  
staring at the wall that his TV and other things were nestled into, his hand  
resting on his chin, his fingers resting on his lips as his eyes disappeared  
into space. She moved inside and closed the door behind her, looking around  
the dark room and noticing that none of the lights were on.  
"Josh?" She asked softly. He didn't move. She sighed and moved around his  
desk to stand in front of him. "Josh, answer me." She whispered. Josh looked  
at her with wet eyes and she could see how he was holding back. She moved  
forward and traced her fingers down his face to cup his cheek gently. "Talk  
to me, Josh." She pleaded. He took her hand in his and stared into her eyes.  
"How could something like this happen, Donna? In the White House?" He  
asked softly. "How could Rade think that there was no more hope when she was  
sleeping in the White House? Every day I come to work here, knowing that I'm  
at least *trying* to make a difference in this country, and yet the  
granddaughter of the man I work for and respect highly can't find hope."  
Donna blinked back tears as she saw the pain in his eyes and heard it in his  
voice.  
"I don't know. Maybe she just didn't hear us soon enough. She didn't take  
enough time to hear us tell her that she had hope. Now she has it, Josh. And  
she has us, and we're going to give her hope. All of us." She assured him as  
she squeezed his hand and traced his features with the slender fingers of her  
other hand. He closed his eyes and attempted to nod as a tear fell down his  
cheek.  
"I know. I hope you're right. I hope to God you're right." He whispered.  
She nodded and tried to smile. "Thank you, Donatella." He added as he opened  
his eyes again and stared into her. She found her knees unsteadying a little  
as his brown eyes gazed into her light blue ones.  
"You're welcome." She whispered weakly. He smiled very weakly and nodded,  
reaching forward to caress her cheek with his fingers. "Josh." She murmured  
softly as he leaned forward towards her.  
"Yeah?" He asked as his eyes examined her face, taking in the view of her  
delicate features.  
"What are you doing?" She asked softly. Josh stopped and let his hands  
drop to his lap. He shook his head and got to his feet, moving to get past  
her. She watched him in confusion.  
"Nothing. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He murmured as he  
stopped in front of his desk and looked around, as if trying to remember what  
he was going to do. Donna paused and then walked over to him to take his face  
in her hands. She brought his eyes to hers.  
"You just surprised me, that's all." She whispered before hugging him  
tightly. He hugged her back, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the  
scent of it. He felt her clutch him tighter and then returned the gesture.  
Donna pulled back and looked him in the eye. He looked back and slipped a  
hand through her hair, gently taking hold of her head and pulling her in for  
a gentle kiss.

*****************************  
The hallway seemed silent. Abbey looked around and then moved for the  
door. She opened it and moved inside. The bloodstain was still on the carpet,  
and she could still remember the feeling she felt when she'd entered the room  
and found her granddaughter in a crumpled pile, covered in her own blood. She  
couldn't think then. All she could do was scream her husband's name. Now the  
blood was still there. She moved to the ground and ran her fingers over the  
stain. Then she stood up and walked to the stereo. There was a CD inside, one  
she didn't recognize, but she never recognized them anyway. She pressed play.

*I never thought I'd die alone*  
*I laughed the loudest, who'd have known*  
*I traced the cord back to the wall*  
*No wonder, it was never plugged in at all*  
*I took my time, I hurried up*  
*The choice was mine, I didn't think enough*

What was the choice, Abbey mused. What was the pain, the decision that  
people faced when they decided to slash their wrist or take too many pills?  
Abbey wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. She was glad that she'd never  
known that kind of hopelessness.

*I'm too depressed, to go on*  
*You'll be sorry when I'm gone*  
*I never conquered, rarely came*  
*Sixteen just held such better days*  
*Days when I still felt alive*  
*I couldn't wait to get outside*  
*The world is wide, too late to try*  
*The tour was over, we'd survived*  
*I couldn't wait until I got home*  
*To pass the time in my room alone*

Rade did spend a lot of time in her room, alone. Always alone. Abbey was  
starting to feel frustrated. There was a question in the back of her head,  
something that she hadn't thought of before. What were they going to do now?

*I never thought I'd die alone*  
*Another six months, I'll be unknown*  
*Give all my things to all my friends*  
*You'll never set foot in my room again*  
*You'll close it off, board it up*  
*Remember the time that I spilled the cup*  
*Of apple juice in the hall*  
*Please tell mom this is not her fault*

As the chorus repeated, Abbey wondered about the line. Was it her  
mother's fault? What did Rade believe? It was evident how Rade felt about her  
father, but not about her mother. Where did Liz fall into the grand scheme of  
things? Abbey shook her head and moved to switch the stereo off but then she  
noticed the sound change in the lyrics.  
*I never conquered, rarely came*  
*Tomorrow holds such better days*  
*Days when I can still feel alive*  
*When I can't wait to get outside*  
*The world is wide, the time goes by*  
*The tour is over, I've survived*  
*And I can't wait till I get home*  
*To pass the time in my room alone*

As the music began to trail off, Abbey hit the stop button. Was Rade  
going to make the decision to live now? Was she going to feel alive and  
embrace the gift that God had given her? Only time would tell.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Please?

~D.C.  
Batman


	13. Just One Wish 13

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

Toby paced the hallway carefully. The door creaked open and Rade  
appeared. He smiled and nodded. She nodded back and walked up to him, her  
right hand shoved into her jean pocket and her left one, the bandaged one,  
swinging at her side. He took that hand in his and smiled.  
"Let's go." He said softly. She nodded and walked with him down the  
hallway. There were two secret service agents with them, one of them being a  
concerned man named Ellis Jackson who had been Rade's agent when she'd  
visited the White House for July 4th. He'd remembered her as an eccentric  
young woman, but a happy one and now he found a frightened, not quite  
optimisitic little girl in her place, one who was afraid of the world, and  
all he wanted to do was find the person responsible and give that person a  
piece of his mind, among other things. For now he walked about six feet  
behind her while his partner Alexis Barrett strode six feet in front of their  
charge. He watched from behind as Rade held the hand of the tall white house  
communications director and smiled. He'd been there when she'd gone to Toby  
Ziegler's home not too long ago. He understood the kind of relationship that  
they shared. No one else did. What a shame.

*********************************  
Jed Bartlet stared at the wall of the Oval office and then looked at the  
thin packet of papers on his desk. Sam had done a marvelous job, but Jed had  
made sure the young man knew that the President might take the opportunity to  
write his own statement, merely because the matter hit so close to home. Jed  
knew he could never be as eloquent as Sam or Toby. When he polished, it was  
because he was standing up there in the spotlight, hundreds of eyes upon him,  
and the mood would just carry him away. That was part of being a politician.  
But this statement wasn't about being a politician. It was about being a  
father and a grandfather. There was a soft knock at the door, bringing Jed's  
attention back to reality, where it probably belonged. He wasn't even sure  
about that anymore.  
"Come in." He said softly. He saw the door slowly open until he met the  
eyes of his youngest daughter. Zoey moved into the room quietly, closing the  
door behind her and approaching her father at his desk. He got to his feet  
and watched her carefully. The two had yet to talk to each other about the  
whole thing, and he knew from what Charlie had told him that Zoey was upset.  
"Daddy, what are you going to do about this?" She asked softly. He sighed  
and looked at his fingers which were trailing the edge of his desk.  
"I'm going to make a statement to the press in about two hours and --" He  
started. Zoey shook her head.  
"No, what are you going to *do* about *this*?" She repeated. "What's  
going to happen to Rade? What are you going to do with Liz and that asshole,  
Eric?" She clarified. Jed paused.  
"I'm not sure. What do you think I should do?" He asked softly. Zoey  
sighed and sat on the couch.  
"I don't know." She admitted. Jed sighed and moved to sit next to her.  
"I don't either." He said softly as he hugged his daughter lovingly.

******************************  
Liz took a deep breath and looked at her husband. He was sitting at the  
hotel desk, writing feverishly on the stationery. She knew he wanted to  
leave. He wanted to go back home, but he was searching for a way to get Annie  
back. She knew he didn't care about Rade, but Annie he wanted. She didn't  
know what to do. She wanted her children back, but what was Eric going to do  
with them. She sighed, got up and walked the closet. Ten minutes passed  
before Eric looked up in time to see her zip up the bag.  
"What are you doing?" He asked her.  
"I'm getting out of here." She replied softly.  
"You're what?" He asked again.  
"I'm leaving. I don't know. Maybe I'll go to some motel. I doubt they  
want me at the White House. I'll just --" She started.  
"Think about that. You messed this up as much as I did." Eric interrupted.  
"Yes, I did. And I regret it. You don't. That's the major difference  
between you and me." She declared and headed for the door.  
"Liz, don't leave." Eric pleaded as he got to his feet. "You know this is  
all just one big misunderstanding." He said softly.  
"Is it?" She asked. He nodded, moving towards her with a puppy pout on  
his face. He reached up and stroked her cheek gently. She closed her eyes as  
he cupped her face gently.  
"Don't leave, Liz. I need you. You're my reason for being." He whispered  
as he kissed her cheek gently. She swallowed and tried to think straight as  
he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.  
"Eric, this is all just so confusing." She lamented softly. He nodded and  
kissed her neck gently. "I have to think about it." She added. He nodded  
again and continued to press his lips to her neck.  
"Okay. We'll think about it." He said softly before taking her lips in  
his own.

TBC... .  
Feedback? Comments? Please?

~D.C.


	14. Just One Wish 14

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1, Thanks so much to AJ for giving me some direction on this,  
I know where I'm going now!!!!!!!

Leo leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. He  
looked around his office and tried to breathe. An hour and a half until the  
President's address. He had to find some way to kill time until then. The  
phone rang, saving him from having to think of something.  
"Leo McGarry." He exclaimed.  
"Leo?" A weak, raspy voice came through the line.  
"Liz?" Leo asked in concern. "Liz, are you okay? Where are you?"  
"I'm in a hotel on seventeenth. Leo, I had to get out of there. I'm so  
sorry, Leo. Tell me what to do." Liz said softly. Leo looked around the  
office and got to his feet.  
"Listen, what hotel are you at? I'm gonna come get you, okay? You can  
stay here." He assured her.  
"No, Leo, they don't want me there." She said softly.  
"If you say to them what you're saying to me, I promise you, everything  
will be okay." Leo replied. "Okay? what's the address?"

********************************  
"If you ask me, people don't spend enough time in parks." Rade said  
softly as she walked along the sidewalk with Toby closeby.  
"If you start quizzing me on National parks, I'm going to run away  
screaming." He exclaimed playfully. Rade laughed.  
"No, I specialize in even less useful trivia than my granddad." She  
replied. Another silent paused filled the air between them. "No one knows,  
right? You got me signed out, no problem?" She asked for about the tenth time.  
"No one knows you've left the hospital except the hospital, me and the  
secret service, although I don't know why you wanted it that way." Toby  
replied honestly. He could see the White house in the distance and he knew  
that Rade wanted them to end up there eventually.  
"Because the question on everyone's mind is no longer 'why did she do  
it?' Now it's 'what do we do next?' Everyone keeps asking me 'why, Rade, why'  
and the only thing that comes to my mind is to say 'ours is not the reason  
why...' and trail off." She said with a grin. He laughed and nodded.  
"That's a good answer, but is it the right one?" He asked.  
"I've made a lot of mistakes lately. I don't think getting a wrong answer  
is on the list of my worries." She replied playfully. He nodded and walked  
with her. "Thanks for doing this, Toby. I know you have work to do, and I  
know that you hate the outdoors and all." She added.  
"Well, someone has to keep an eye on you." He replied softly before  
realizing all the things that the statement could have meant.  
"Yeah, I know." She replied, surprising him.

******************************  
"What do you mean she checked out? Where'd she go?" Jed exclaimed into  
the phone. "Fine, thank you." He added before hanging up. He had an hour to  
go before his statement and his wife had just walked into to tell him that  
their granddaughter had disappeared out of the hospital under the care of one  
Toby Ziegler and a secret service agent named Ellis Jackson.  
"What'd they say?" Abbey asked as she rubbed Zoey's back.  
"She's with Toby and her agent." He replied. Abbey nodded and then looked  
at the door as Leo walked in with Liz behind him.  
"Hey, Leo. Liz." Jed exclaimed softly. Liz nodded, and he could see the  
tearstains on her cheeks. Zoey watched her sister almost angrily, but her  
temper had cooled off since before and she was interested to know why Leo had  
been so willing to bring Liz back.  
"Guys." Liz started, trying not to cry. "I'm so sorry. I should never  
have lied to you and I never should have all this go this far. I seriously  
regret all of this from the start and I just wanted to let you know that . .  
. I'm leaving Eric. He tried to get me to stay, but I couldn't look at him  
anymore. I'm sorry for..." Liz just trailed off and bit her lip. Zoey  
slowly got to her feet and walked to her sister. Liz watched her younger  
sister carefully and then started to cry as the younger girl took her into a  
tight hug. Abbey got up and walked to her husband as Zoey and Liz hugged  
tightly. Jed looked his wife in the eye and then nodded. Things were coming  
back together. Could it be that things were working out? Just then the door  
opened and Rade walked in with Toby at her side. She stopped and looked at  
her mother in tears and then at her grandparents.  
"What's going on?" She asked shakily.

TBC.....  
Feedback? Comments? Please?? Plllleeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeee???

~D.C.  
Batman


	15. Just One Wish 15

RATING: PG-15 (to tell you why would spoil the story, *strong* themes)  
DISCLAIMER: See Part 1  
NOTES: See part 1

Jed tapped his feet impatiently as he sat in Leo's office. His wife put a  
hand on his knee to calm him down, but he had a lot of nervous energy. Less  
that sixty minutes to go before he addressed the nation about his family  
problems, and right now, his daughter and granddaughter were having something  
of a showdown in the Oval office. He didn't know how to feel about it. All he  
could do was look around the room, watching Toby read Sam's statement and  
mutter softly, watch Leo scribble mindlessly on a piece of paper, watch his  
wife and youngest daughter share wayward glances and smile weakly and then  
feel himself, waiting impatiently for the answer to the question he'd been  
asking himself for days.  
What now?

********************************  
Rade stared at her mother, trying to figure out what she was going to  
say. She had a lot to ask of this woman and she didn't know what was going to  
be first. What could she say to the woman who stood by while a man they both  
loved, perhaps unjustly, grabbed a piece of wood and struck her in the face?  
Rade knew that her father would never hurt her mother, and she was fairly  
certain that he would never hurt Annie. She had always felt that he disliked  
her, that there was something inside of her that he needed to destroy, but  
never knew what that was.  
"You have something to say to me?" She asked softly, breaking through the  
silence. She'd never seen her mother cry before, but she could tell that her  
mother had recently. Liz looked at her daughter and tried to find strength.  
"I'm sorry, Rade. Your father had no right to do what he did, and looking  
back, I can't believe I protected him." She started.  
"But you did. You did protect him." Rade interrupted weakly. Liz watched  
the young woman carefully and nodded.  
"I know. It was wrong. I never should have done that and it shocked me  
when your grandparents called to say you were in the hospital." Liz replied  
slowly. "Sweetie, I know you may not believe me, but I love you and I'm never  
going to do anything like that again."  
"So you're the fairweather friend?" Rade accused softly.  
"What?" Liz asked.  
"When it looks good to stand with dad, you stand with him. The moment the  
wind changes direction, it's 'I'm sorry, Rade' and you expect me to say...  
what?" Rade asked slowly. "What do you want me to say?"  
"I don't know. You're right. I--" Liz started.  
"Don't say you're sorry." Rade interrupted again. "It's getting  
annoying."  
"Rade, what do you need me to say?" Liz exclaimed.  
"I need you to say you'll wait." Rade replied honestly. "I need you to  
realize that it's not going to be instantaneous that I trust you again out of  
the blue. I need you to actually think for a moment, mom."  
"Okay. I will wait, sweetie." Liz promised. "For as long as you need me  
to."  
"That's it you need to say." Rade said softly before moving forward to  
hug her mother tightly. Liz hugged her back cry softly. Rade cried too and  
hugged tighter. She'd never seen her mom cry, and she'd never wanted to be  
the one who made it happen. And yet here they were.

*************************************  
"CJ?"  
"Yes, Danny?"  
"Will you have dinner with me tonight?" CJ looked up at Danny and saw him  
smirking. After all they'd been through over the past few days, he was still  
the same old playful Danny. She laughed and got to her feet.  
"Uh, no." She said, pretending to think about it.  
"Why do you always say no?" He asked as he walked with her towards the  
press room.  
"Because it's so much fun." She teased.  
"So you admit you have no legitimate reason for saying no to me?" Danny  
asked. CJ laughed again.  
"No, I have several legitimate reasons." She replied.  
"Those aren't good legitimate reasons though." He replied.  
"Sure they are."  
"Have dinner with me."  
"Okay."  
"What?"  
"Hang on. Lemme go take care of this."  
"Wait, CJ, could you say that again?" Danny pleaded with puppy dog eyes.  
"I gotta go take care of this. See you at the briefing, Danny." CJ said  
sweetly and disappeared down the hall. Danny grinned and walked back to his  
desk, a little hop in his step.

********************************  
Jed stroked the cheek of his granddaughter and then moved through the  
doors, his staff and family behind him. The cameras flashed as Rade walked in  
with her mother, Toby, Leo, Sam, Josh and CJ with them. Annie sat in Leo's  
office with Zoey and Charlie, watching the press conference. Cameras  
continued to snap as the Presdient took his place at the podium. Reporters  
sat on their hands as they waited for him to talk. It was all they could do  
not to shout out questions. Many of them didn't know why he was doing this.  
The President did not have to make a statement if he faced a family disaster,  
merely a national one. Still, Jed Bartlet wanted to be able to talk to the  
country about what he'd discovered over the past few days. He wanted to  
assure them, and he wanted to assure his family.  
"Ladies and gentlement, citizens of this nation. I come before you today  
not to speak as your President, but as a father and grandfather who has been  
spending the past few days in a very thoughtful mood." He started slowly. "A  
lot of things have happened recently; things I never would have expected. My  
family and I have been trying to understand why such things happen and the  
truth is that no one knows. Everyone has problems, and as the President, I  
thought not only was I exempt from that truism, but that my family was as  
well. Over the past few days, I've found myself proven wrong, and there's  
nothing I regret more.  
"Last night, my wife walked in on my granddaughter and found her with a  
slit wrist. I'll never forget the pain in my heart, in my wife's voice and in  
my granddaughter's eyes as we went to the hospital to save her life. The day  
preceding this incident was full of turmoil as we attempted to deal with the  
fact that my son-in-law has abused my granddaughter, and that thought makes  
me angrier than I can ever remember being. Ladies and gentlemen, I stand here  
before you tonight, not to tell you things you'd rather not know. Ladies and  
gentlemen, I stand before you to tell you that I have reached the realization  
that I cannot change this country. I cannot change this country because I  
need help. One man cannot change the world, and that is the lesson that I  
have learned over the past few days. One man cannot do it, but I realize now  
that I am not alone. I am not alone, and neither is anyone else in this  
country. As long as we learn to depend on the support of others and we love  
each other and help each other, we are not alone. I know now, that I will  
change this country. I will make it better. I will do it, and I will do it  
with your help." Jed paused and looked around the room before beginning  
again, much softer and slower this time. It was time to get personal.  
"My daughter and her children will be staying at the White House for the  
next few weeks and my son-in-law has been taken into police custody. I will  
continue to run this country as I have been doing and things will find some  
state of normalcy, even if that state is an altered one. My belief in this  
country is even stronger than it was before and I feel the need to make this  
world safe for my family and for all of yours. The world is changing; we are  
changing it. No one should have to feel they are without hope. Ladies and  
gentlemen, we will go on, no matter what." He finished before nodding to the  
camera and taking off for the door. The reporters got to their feet to shout  
but there was no point. Jed knew his family and staff were right behind him  
and all he could do was smile.  
"The lid is on, guys. Go home." CJ called before following her coworkers  
to the Oval office where the President finally stopped walking to lean  
against his desk. Jed looked around the room and smiled. There was Abbey,  
Liz, Rade. Charlie, Zoey and Annie walked in from Leo's office. Leo watched  
his best friend carefully. Josh stood, Donna right behind him, and Jed could  
see their hands subtly interlaced. Sam stood in the corner, watching his  
president. Toby was standing close to Rade, trying to decide where to look.  
"We shall go on." Jed repeated. "No matter what." He added and moved to  
take Rade in his arms. She hugged him tightly as he hugged her. Jed nodded to  
his wife and slowly she, Liz, Zoey and Annie all converged on the two and the  
White House staff watched the Bartlet group hug. When the group broke apart,  
Abbey hugged her husband tightly. Liz hugged Annie. Zoey hugged Charlie. Rade  
looked around and smiled at Toby, who nodded.  
No matter what.

The End...  
Feedback? Comments? Well? Please? It's the end, finally!! :) Any kind of  
feedback is welcome!! ::grins:: No more death threats, please.

~D.C.  
Batman


End file.
